As many of us know, effective communication between people is very important on many levels. It promotes good relationships, allows for timely results and much more. the last exercise we had in class proves this. In the beginning, we were not allowed to speak to the speaker and the frustration on every one's faces showed how we were feeling. A one sided conversation is a difficult situation to deal with though we sometimes experience it. The second round of the experiment was a little better because we were allowed to speak freely, however there was still a gap between the speaker's message and our interpretations. This exercise, like the others we had in class allows us to learn real life applications to the class topics. Combined with the blogs of our classmates, we are able to explore different ideas on the topics and come to a better understanding. This is why I feel that the blogs are a great tool to have in addition to the other class materials. The blogs create a channel in which our peers can speak more openly because they maybe shy or there was not enough time in class to speak their minds. WE are also able to get to know each other somewhat through the blogs where if we just left it to in class meetings we might not know anything at all. Also, in combining the blog with the topic of management, we are able to explore the topics even further because of the extra materials Prof. Kurpis adds. I feel that more than the extra readings, the explanations in class were helpful in learning the material. As for the 20% of our grades the blogs account for. This is a fair compensation for the work we put in, however I feel that nothing really can help with test anxiety more than the actual tests themselves. I believe that the tests account for 70% of our grades and this is still a frightful number. Thankfully, we capitalised on the opportunity to change the grading system of the class in one of the exercises, but I still have fear of our final...=( As for keeping this blog going after the class I probably will, though it may not be about management. =( Now that I think about it, it's kinda sad to leave the class because we had so many good times so hopefully some of us can keep in touch through the blogs or other channels of communication.
I liked the blog assignments too because they were interesting and allowed us to voice our opinions about the excercises in class. I don't think I will ever have another class like this and it was a good experience because I never knew what to predict the class would be like. However I think that Professor K. should increase the precentage of the blog profolio and give the next class more blog assignements to do and that would decrease the precentage of the tests. Well, good luck on the final!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I do think we got to know each other through the blogs. For such a big class, in the end we made more friends and talked to more students than we could have without the blogging assignments (I think). The blog gave us a conversation piece and an opinion piece as well for those who don't like to speak up in class. LOL - I think i will miss blogging as well.
ReplyDeleteI think your right, that people are shy in the class and didn't want to talk, and through this blog they actually get the chance too express their opinions. This blog actually provided us with information about the class, if someone didn't go to class for a specific day they can find out some stuffs through this blog about the activities we did. I'll miss the class more than the blog though.. =]
ReplyDeleteYour right! Needless to say, communication is extremely vital. How else can we get our point across? Blogging has enabled a channel of communication for those who were unable to do so in class. It's a tactic to ensure all voices are heard and because it's 20 percent of our grade; we all better have done it LOL..
ReplyDeleteI agree, this whole blogging assignment gave a class of our size a extra medium for us to communicate through, especially for the more conservative people in class who tend to keep to themselves more. Also since this is worth 20% of our grades it was a easy motivation for everyone to post and reply.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean about leaving the class. I almost want to keep up this blog just to keep the management class going (although this is clearly not possible). I think that its been really fascinating to read the blogs of people who we wouldnt normally talk to, and in that way it hasnt just forced us to communicate more, but rather to communicate with people we would not normally interact with.
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